Unexpected Wisdom
by AuroraRose2081
Summary: During a routine patrol, Kori receives some unexpected wisdom from an old friend. *Set after The Judas Contract* ONESHOT


_*Set after The Judas Contract. Mild-swearing! Enjoy!*_

Kori didn't particularly mind being on Patrol. Though it wasn't her favorite thing to do, nor the most exciting, Jump City was a beautiful place at night. The skyscrapers (which the city could somehow replace after every battle) reflected the stars twinkling above her, creating a fairly calming kaleidoscope effect as she soared. Thankfully, her Tamaranean physiology kept her from feeling the coming cold of the winter months as Kori wove silently through the night, keeping her eyes and ears open for mischief. Despite all the chaos in Jump during the day, the night's were fairly quiet. Obviously, there were all kinds of things going on like car accidents, muggings and fights at bars. But Kori didn't interfere with things which Jump City Police could easily handle on their own. She only acted when something was _truly_ out of place, like the figure who had been following her for the past twenty minutes.

Kori's ears had picked up on the soft footsteps a while ago, ones which followed her all the way around the city. Whoever they were kept to the rooftops, but Kori could see their silhouette occasionally, whenever they darted from building to building. Kori wasn't concerned though, not in the slightest. Rather, she banked slowly downwards, landing on the closest rooftop as she illuminated one of her hands. This revealed the mask clad figure scrambling up the side of the building. His face covering was white and had a large red X right through the middle of it. The rest of his (Kori was only guessing from body type) suit was black and made of what Kori could only assume was some sort of carbon fiber mesh with interwoven padding. Standing to his full height, the figure froze as Kori leveled him with her gaze,

"Hello, stranger,"

"Damn it," Red X groaned noisily as Kori lowered her hand, leaving behind only the white buzz of the floodlamp to illuminate them, "I thought I was being sneaky,"

"You were, but you forget that my hearing is better than yours," Kori tapped one of her ears as X grumbled something under his breath,

"Stupid alien hearing, messing shit up,"

"What do you want, Red? And don't say you were just taking a midnight stroll cause I know you're lying," Kori held up a finger as Red X lowered his hand, which he was no doubt going to use to expand on that very excuse,

"Hell, Kori, take the fun outta life," X complained, folding his arms as Kori rested her weight on one hip. This was not her first encounter with the infamous Red X. In fact, it was one of several meetings. The first had been by complete accident, when she and the masked vigilante ran into one another at a diner not far into Jump. Ever since, Red X popped up more and more frequently in her life, especially after the row she and Richard had right before the 'Trigon' incident. He was a snarky, dickish son of a bitch. But Kori couldn't seem to shake him, to the funny chagrin of an ever jealous Nightwing.

"I don't have time for this, X." Kori whined slightly, watching as Red X snorted,

"You always have time for me, mama," the smaller boy in a mask made a wagging motion with his hips as Kori rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the small chuckle which escaped her lips, "bat boy just has to learn to share. And either way, I just kinda wanted to…you know…check in?"

"Check in?" Kori's brow lifted as Red X groaned in irritation again,

"Are you really going to make me explain it? I heard about the 'Brother Blood' thing ok."

"You're checking in...on me?" Kori felt slightly bewildered as X rubbed the back of his neck with a glove, appearing embarrassed,

"I don't usually do sweet, ok Princess. Don't you forget that," X pointed accusingly at Kori as she shook her head,

"Yeah, says the one who dropped a $50 into that waitresses tip jar a few weeks ago,"

"Fuck! Kori, why do you make being mysterious and enigmatic so hard, huh?" X threw his arms at his sides as Kori laughed fully this time, amused by his childish antics. Red X really was just a teenager in a mask trying his best to be the next Batman. And he wasn't half bad either. After all, he was the only one it seemed who was able to piss of Damian Wayne while also managing to stay off his radar,

"It's my job. Besides, it's…nice, that you wanted to check in on me,"

Kori inwardly winced at the pain which followed the Brother Blood incident as she folded her arms slightly. It had been a hard recuperation for all of them, especially Gar. After all, even though Terra wasn't necessarily a Titan, she was still one of them deep on the inside. And it hurt knowing that she could have been a great addition to the team.

"You're not as ok as you think you are," Red X said, drawing Kori out of her own thoughts. The boy had gotten closer to her, and was now sitting on the edge of the rooftop. Smiling behind his mask no doubt, he patted the curb beside him as Kori sighed in defeat and plopped down with a grunt. "you're the closest thing I've ever had to a friend, Princess," Red X admitted softly, his mysterious façade blown away in the wind as he sighed, "and when I heard what Blood had nearly done…I just had to see you,"

"It hasn't been easy," Kori admitted, to both herself and Red X, "we've grown so much, but the wounds are still…very fresh. Tensions are high, and there are new barriers which shouldn't be crossed."

"I'm not really worried about the rest of the team, they can handle themselves." X complained, "I'm worried about _you_."

"Mmm," Kori clenched her fists slightly as she avoided X's masked gaze. She was a leader, a mentor to her team as well as to X. Her own needs were...miniscule, compared to the suffering everyone else seemed to endure, "I'm fine. Tired, still a bit sore even,"

"That's not answering my question," X whined, kicking his feet back and forth over the edge of the building. Kori blinked as his hand moved to cover hers on the pavement, squeezing them slightly, "how. Are. _You."_

"I…" Kori's words stuck in her throat as she chewed her lip. How was she? "I am not well."

"No?"

"No. I find myself questioning...whether or not I'm the right choice to lead the Titans,"

"What?" Red X seemed genuinely surprised at the admittance as Starfire pulled her hand away from his fingers, holding it to her chest as she looked out towards the city,

"I let Terra into our lives so easily. I believed that everyone who came to the Titans needed some faith. I was wrong. I let the enemy walk right through the front door," Kori shook her head disapprovingly as her lip twitched, "I put everyone in danger, and I nearly lost Greyson. What kind of leader am I, causing so much pain?"

"Fuck. I can see your problem," Red X looked to the city as well, still pumping his legs as he sighed, "I think you're a great leader."

"Simply because you _believe_ something doesn't necessarily make it true."

"Yeah, but I'm me, and I say you're a good leader. Therefore it's true."

Kori felt a smile pull to her lips at X's claim as she shook her head, only to feel her hand being taken and squeezed again,

"You are a good leader, Kori. All leaders make mistakes. Some mistakes are worse than others. Batman let the Joker live, that was a mistake. Greyson let you go for a while, that was his mistake. And you gave faith to someone who you thought needed it. It was both a mistake and a blessing. I know the story. Terra ended up fighting for you in the end, didn't she?"

"In a way, but mostly out of her own anger caused by Slade's betrayal."

"But who put that seed of faith into her head in the first place? That was all you, mama." Red X bumped Kori's shoulder with his as she smiled weakly, "It may not feel like it now, but all of this pain will make you even better than you already are."

"When did you ever become so wise?"

"You've got a lot of time to think on the streets, babe," X admitted with a half shrug, "you crash and burn more often than you land. But each time you get smarter,"

"I suppose you're right. But I've promised myself never to make the same mistake again. I will be more...solid, when I'm recruiting,"

"Don't you dare. The only reason the Titan's are strong is because of that unquestioning faith you have in your crew. Start questioning them now and it'll all fall apart. In the words of the Bat, just be vigilant',"

"Mm, thank you for those words, X," Star smiled and rubbed the top of her legs, "you know, there's still a place at Titan's Tower for you, if you want it,"

"As great as it would be to see you and your hot legs every day, Mama, I'm not much of a team player,"

"Suit yourself," standing from the rooftop, Kori smiled at the horizon. The sun was just beginning to splinter over the peaks, "Jump City is beautiful in the mornings,"

"Yep. To bad I can stay out here to see it. We'll meet again, Princess,"

"Always the pleasure, X," Star stated carefully, leaning down and pecking the masked crusader on the masked cheek,

"Awe hell,"

Red X was more then likely blushing as Kori giggled slightly, taking off into the air as the sun fully rose up over the bay. She arrived at Titan's tower just in time for breakfast. To her surprise, Greyson was present as well, eating a plate of eggs,

"Kori," he sat up quickly, food forgotten as he forced a swallow in order to speak, "you didn't come home last night. Is everything ok?"

"Yes,"

Blinking slightly, Kori took notice of Damian, who was angrily attacking his breakfast with a fork but not eating it. Dick noticed her gaze and chuckled,

"Another night where he didn't find Red X," he explained, taking Kori's cheek in his hand and pulling her back to look at him, "where were you last night, I was worried."

Placing her fingers atop his, Kori sighed deeply,

"I'm really ok. I just had a talk with an old friend."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We talked about things." Kori glanced at her team, all of whom were eating breakfast in tired silence,

"What kind of things?"

Glancing at Dick carefully, Kori smiled at him,

"Just some...unexpected wisdom."

 **A/N: Hello all! Rose here, back again with a new Teen Titans story! This one was set directly after The Judas Contract, and focuses mainly on the fears Starfire brought up about not being a good leader for the team.**

 **Red X might come off as a little OOC, simply because we haven't actually seen him in the new Universe. That and I wanted him to be less of a love interest for Kori and more of an unexpected source of wisdom. I hope y'all enjoy!**


End file.
